Unlikely Companions
by MeddiEvil
Summary: A young Legolas stumbles across Gloín whilst he is incarcerated in Thranduils dungeon and befriends the Dwarve. (Influenced by Jackson's Movies)
1. Part 1 - The First Meet

Gloin was roused from his slumber by shouts of "Las cóon… Where are you." followed by a pause and then a heavy sigh. "I promise it's just me, I'm alone. The twins aren't with me I promise." the shouts carried down the corridor with an additional mumble of "But they'll find me soon with all this shouting."

He was currently confined to one of the cells in the Elven King of Mirkwood's dungeons. Although the circumstances were not ideal it was not entirely bad. The cells themselves were rather comfortable with a bed of gnarled roots and branches jutting out from the wall that was topped with a soft quilted topper. His stomach that had been empty for days had mercifully been filled with warm porridge that had berries to add a burst of flavour.

Pulling a blanket tighter around his shoulders to stave off the slight chill he sat up to provide a better view of the corridor outside his cell. A young human boy appeared in his field of vision. The boy had a frown securely attached to his face as he surveyed the area around him. He appeared to be young - just below ten Gloin guessed with his dark hair that hung down to his shoulders in an unruly mess. "This isn't funny anymore." called the boy resuming his shouting for earlier. "Las! You need to stop hiding, I promise that I'm alone, the twins are still upstairs." still not receiving a response the child harrumphed crossing his arms over his chest. "If you don't come out we will get in trouble with Elrond and your Ada. And your Ada scares me" he mumbled the so quietly that Gloin almost missed it.

Gloins ears pricked at the mention of the familiar Elf who had aided Thorin and Company all the way back in Rivendell. Did that mean that Elrond was heard in Mirkwood? And if he was could he help them in regards to their Thranduil problem?

He was broken out of his reverie by the boy stomping his foot "For the love of Valor! This isn't funny. The twins are still upstairs with Elrond."

"Gah!" exclaimed Gloin as a small blond head popped out from under the bed. The pale hair was a stark contrast to the darkness making it appear as if it was glowing. The head popped back under the bed as quickly as it had appeared. The boy outside approached the cell door as Gloin's surprised exclamation had caught his attention.

Peering inside he noticed Gloin and sent the dwarve a tentative smile, "Hello Master Dwarve, I don't suppose you have seen a small elfling, about this tall," he used his hand to indicate just below his shoulder "he has blond hair. I seem to have misplaced him"

There was a small squeak from under the bed followed by a whisper "Please do not tell." it was so faint that Gloin wasn't certain that he had actually heard it. He found himself answering in the negative before he could even process what had happened.

The boy smiled and sighed "Sorry to have troubled you master Dwarve."

"Thank you." was whispered from under the bed causing Gloin's lips to quirk up at the ends involuntarily.

Gloin continued to observe the young human who had begun pacing up and down the corridor and muttering under his breath too quiet for Gloin to hear.

This time Gloin was able to contain his shock when the blond head - that he had almost convinced himself that he had imagined - popped out from under the bed again. The head was followed by an equally small body giving him the first good look at the small person. Getting a look at the side of his head the pointed ears - that clearly marked the child as an elf - confirmed Gloin's suspicions that this was the elfling in question. Whilst the child's gaze was firmly fixed on watching the human child Gloin took the opportunity to observe him. The pale hair was a white blond, similar in colour to the Kings with big blue eyes. The child was small, very small about the size of a 4-year-old human child.

After several long drawn out minutes, new voices started to drift down the corridor causing the the human boy to jerk his head and look around himself, his eyes wide with Panic. "Las Cóon, this is your last chance, the twins are coming. I know your down here somewhere."

The tiny elfling - that Gloin could only assume was the Las Cóon that the human boy was looking for - practically dove back to his hiding space under the bed.

Two adult elves - who were literal carbon copies of each other - joined the human boy. One of the two elves wrapped his arm around the human boy's neck holding him in a headlock and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Fancy seeing you down here, Estel."

Estel squirmed in the Elfs Grip "Elladan," he squealed "le' go of me."

Elladan chuckled, turning his attention to his companion, "What do you think Elrohir? Should I let him go?"

Elrohir, however, seemed to be preoccupied looking around the area with a small frown creasing between his eyebrows. "Huh, oh let him go." he said shooting his brother a disapproving glare "Where's Las?" he questioned turning his attention to Estel.

Estel fixed his gaze on the floor and began to shift his weight from foot to foot. "Well, I uh I kind of lost him." he flicked his gaze up to the two elves. In response to the disapproving look, the twins were giving he puffed his chest out indignantly before continuing, "Well he does know the palace better than I do, I can barely find my way, it's like a maze."

"Well he couldn't have just disappeared thin air, where did you last see him." Elladan's voice sounded strained and both the twins faces where creased with worry.

"He was running ahead - he's fast considering how short his legs are - and by the time I rounded the corner he had disappeared."

Elladan dramatically face palmed whilst Elrohir sighed pinching the bridge of his nose "And that, dear brother is why we do not let Las get ahead of us."

"Well have you tried looking for him?" Elladan pipped in.

Rolling his eyes Estel shot him a look that clearly questioned the elf's sanity "Off course I've looked for him. He's not here, there is nowhere for him to hide, all the cells are occupied with Dwarves and he's not that stupid," it took all of Gloin's willpower not to snort derisively at the comment "I spoke to one of the dwarves and he hasn't seen Las."

Elrohir made choking noises before reaching out to grab Estel by the arm "Come on then. You get to explain how you lost Las to Ada and King Thranduil."

The small party turned and left the way that they had come with both twins dragging the young human boy who seemed to be trying to dig his heels in the ground. "Do I have to. King Thranduil, he scares me."

"You're the one who lost Las, so you get to tell the King." said one of the twins as their voices got fainter as they carried on down the hall.

Just before they were out of earshot the other twin added: "King Thranduil scares everyone."

After a few seconds to ensure that the other elves and the human boy had really gone the elfling crawled out from his hiding place. Once at the centre of the cell the elfling got to his feet and brushed the dust and cobwebs of off his clothing. Gloin was shocked, he knew the elfling was small, he just hadn't realised how small until he got to his feet. The child would barely come past his hip - and that was saying something as dwarves were not exactly known for their height. Once the elfling had deemed he had done a good enough job at cleaning himself off - he still had a fair amount of dust and cobwebs clinging to his tunic and leggings - the elfling turned his attention to Gloin.

The Elfling gave Gloin a tentative smile "Thank you Master Dwarve, for not giving me away."

Gloin didn't know why this elfling was affecting him in this way but try as he might he could not stop the smile from creeping up into his face. "No problem Laddy." The elfling smiled brightly at him. However, that could not stop concern from settling in the pit of his stomach for the small child - even if the child was an elf. Somewhere there were worried parents who were looking for their child, he couldn't bear the thought of losing Gimli like that. "So who might ya be laddy?"

The elfling came towards Gloin and sat down crossed legged in front of the bed. "Everyone calls me Las Coón but I don't like that." He said with wide eyes shaking his head emphatically. "My name is really Legolas, so just call me that or Las, I guess Las is ok too." He paused fiddling with the hem "who are you?" He asked raising, eyes to meet Gloins. "What is your name master Dwarve?"

The pure innocence in Legolas' eyes, without a trace of the typical animosity present between the dwarves and elves, elicited a deep throaty chuckle from the adult dwarve. "Well youngun, I am Gloin son of Groín of the Durin folk, but Gloin is fine." Now that seemed to have gained Legolas' trust somewhat he decided to change tac. "So what brings ya t' this neck the woods?"

"I'm hiding from the twins and Estel." declared Legolas somewhat proudly. A smile started to tug at the corners of Gloins lips.

"Oh?" he declared in an overly dramatic voice "Why would ya be doing that?"

"Because it's fun."

"Really?" Gloin questioned gently. "T' me it didn't look like the twins and Estel were having fun, they looked worried about ya." he paused for breath, taking a moment to gauge Legolas' reaction. "And it don't look like your having to much fun either."

Legolas shifted on the floor under Gloins gaze with his eye's starting to become glassy brimming with tears that threatened to fall. He shook his head feebly. "I like it when the twins and Estel come because it gives me someone to play with, but they baby me and treat me like an infant. I'm not a little kid, I'm older than Estel." He sighed crossing his arms over his chest and pouting "I'm 12 and he's 8" seeing the look of disbelief on Gloins face Legolas nodded "It's true. Elves grow slower than men, but we develop and mature faster. Just because he's bigger than me Estel thinks he can treat me like an infant."

"I'm sure Estel don't mean anythin' by it. He probably just worries about ya." Legolas shrugged non-committedly "What 'bout ya parents. I'm sure ya mother and father are worried an' wondering where ya are"

Again Legolas only shrugged. "I don't have a Nanneth, she faded when I was very young. Ada probably doesn't know I'm missing yet, he's working, he's always working. Or maybe Estel and the twins have already told him - so maybe he knows." Gloin felt his heart painfully clench for the small elfling.

"Wha' about siblings? Can't ya play with them?"

"What are sib'ings?" asked Legolas, his brow furrowing with confusion.

"Ya know, brothers? Sisters?" Legolas's eyes light up with recognition.

"I don't have any. My brothers were killed in the battle of the last alliance. It's just me and Ada." If his heart hadn't hurt for Legolas before now it was shattered. Legolas fixed his wide blue eyes on Gloin. "What about you? Do you have sib'ings?"

The earnest look that Legolas was giving him elicited a hearty chuckle from Gloin. "Aye laddy that I do. Ma brother Oin is in one a these cells."

"How come you're locked in the cells?"

"Well, that's a good question. Ya see we got lost in the woods an' then some spiders came for us. We 'ad t'be rescued by Elves who brought us to the King. Now he weren't t' happy with us for trespassing through the woods an' then our leader wen' an' got into an argument with the King." Gloin explained to Legolas, smiling as he watched Legolas's face come alive with excitement and interest.

"Why were you going through the woods? Not many people come through the woods anymore?"

"We were cuttin' through so we can ge' t' Erebor."

"Erebor," echoed Legolas "As in Erebor with the Dragon?"

"Yes, Laddy, the very same. Ya see before the Dragon came along we used t' live in Erebor an' we are on our way to reclaim the mountain an' get rid a the dragon."

Legolas started to vibrate where he was sat "Cool. My Ada has fought Dragons before but he doesn't like to talk about it." Gloin felt his heart lighten at Legolas' childish enthusiasm and excitement. In many ways, he remained Gloin of his son Gimli. Legolas' attention seemed to be drawn to something under the bed that he reached out for. "What's this?" he asked holding up a silver picture frame.

Smiling Gloin took the picture frame from Legolas' small hand "This 'ere is a picture frame an' inside I keep a drawing of ma wee lad Gimli an' one a ma wife. Ya wanna see?" Legolas nodded eagerly and Gloin patted the mattress beside him for Legolas to come and join him. Opening the frame he showed it to Legolas "That," he said pointing to the picture on the drawing on the right "is ma lad Gimli. He's 'bout the same age as ya."

"How old is he?" asked Legolas peering over at the drawing.

"Well, he jus' 'ad his 13th name day a few days before we left. An' this," he said pointing to the other drawing on the left "is ma wife."

"But if that's your wife, why does she have a beard?" Gloin felt anger beginning to bubble inside him, what a fool he was, this although young this was an elf he was talking to. No matter how small he was an elf is an elf. However, when he looked down at Legolas the anger immediately dissipated. The elf radiated pure innocence his small brow furrowed in confusion with a pout on his lips.

"Well, female dwarves have beards as well. Makes it hard to tell the difference between men and women. To the extent that some believe that there are no women dwarves."

Legolas looked like he wanted to say something but was cut off by a by a loud tolling bell that seemed to shake the foundations of the palace. His eyes went wide with shock and his mouth opened in an 'O' "Dinner." he gasped. "I'm going to be late. Ada is going to be so mad." He jumped off the bed running to the cell door before dropping to the floor and wriggling through the gap between the floor and the bottom of the of the door.


	2. Part 2 - The Great Escape

Hiya! (honestly MeddiEvil, you promised us an update months ago and then disappear for months and all you have to say is Hiya?) I'm back (finally) and I'm not dead. I know I said that I would update around the start of the summer and I'm sorry that I didn't, I'm also sorry that this has been sat on my computer nearly complete for ages, it's just I got wrapped up in doing stuff because it was the best summer of my life. You know the one between the end of school and the start of uni where it's really long and you have no commitments. Not that you care about any of that, so here's the story.

OoOoO

After an indeterminable amount of time, Gloin was jolted to attention by a commotion a few cells down from himself. It had been uneventful since the small elfling had left him. Distant sounds from some form of party or celebration filtered down to the cells. In a rare occurrence, the majority of the company of 13 dwarves remained quiet with a few hushed conversations here and there. Gloin himself was unable to determine whether or not he had drifted off to sleep at some point when he was broken out of his musings by the appearance of the master burglar outside his cell door. He was not going to lie - Gloin had never been so glad to see the hobbit who was travelling with Thorin and Company on their quest to reclaim Erebor.

"Go wait at the end of the corridor with the others." Instructed Bilbo unlocking the latch on the cell door and vaguely gesturing to the left.

Gloin nodding heading to where his brother and Thorin's nephews were already waiting as Bilbo set about freeing the remaining 9 dwarves. "The most peculiar thing happened," he whispered to his brother.

"Really?" asked Oin raising an eyebrow and pulling his attention away from the bickering Fili and Kili. "Care to expand brother?"

"Later," muttered Gloin noticing that Bilbo was heading in their direction with Thorin who was the last to be freed much to his chagrin.

"Let's blow this joint!" Exclaimed Thorin joining the group. As one the company started to move off in the direction that they had come.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Bilbo called from the rear of the group. "We need to go this way," he said emphatically gesturing in the opposite direction that would take them deeper into the bowls of the Woodland king's palace.

The company ground to a halt with the members at the back of the group crashing into those in front before they all turned to face the Hobbit. Gloin was certain that the situation would have been comical if it wasn't for the fact that they were mid daring escape.

"Are you sure Master Baggins?" questioned Thorin with an incredulous look on his face "Surely if we want to escape we should head towards the exit and not further into the Palace from which we are trying to escape."

"Please, just trust me." he said shifting his weight from foot to foot "Trust me," he added for good measure, his wide eyes seeming to bore into Thorin.

"All right,", Thorin conceded "follow the hobbit."

Gloin and the rest of the company proceeded to follow Bilbo through a maze of winding passages - how anyone would ever be able to find their way around was beyond him. It was a good job he thought to himself that Bilbo had left himself a trail of chalk to follow.

After what seemed like forever they reached a spiral staircase that was so narrow it forced them to go down one by one. The staircase opened up at the back of a cavernous room with an intricately carved set of double doors on the other side. It was clear that room was some form of storeroom as the walls were lined with shelves that held numerous sacks of grain, barrels of different shapes and sizes in addition to bundles of herbs, vegetables, fruit and even some cured meat.

Bilbo headed to the right where there was an archway, after a slight hesitation lead by Thorin the company followed the hobbit. Immediately the company pulled up short when they saw the two elves asleep at the table in the centre of the annexe. "Don't worry about them." Bilbo's quiet voice seemed deafening in the quiet of the room. "They're completely bladdered, a band of orcs wouldn't be able to rouse them."

"Well let's get down to business. What is this great escape plan of yours Master Burglar?"

"Well… Uh, promise me you will hear me out ok?" Bilbo rung his fingers. Thorin nodded at him encouraging him to continue. "Well the plan is for you all to get into one of the barrels each," he said gesturing to the 2 dozen or so barrels that were lined up against the wall.

"You want us to what?" spluttered Thorin

"To get in the barrels. You see the elves trade with a human town down the river and they receive the supplies in the barrels. They when they are done they release the barrels from a trap door and just let them float back downstream to the town who fill them up again and sends them back. So if you all get into a barrel and we seal you in they'll release the barrels and we can all just float down the river.

Once Bilbo had finished his explanation the group broke out into a flurry of hushed conversations. Some putting forward their own idea of escape, with others pointed out what a bad idea it was whilst others praised Bilbo for his ingenuity. Meanwhile, Bilbo was trying to interject and heard the dwarves in the direction of the barrels. Gloin opted to stick close to the edge of the group, in part he was still lost in thought, thinking of the small elf but he also kept a wary eye on the two elves at the table.

"Enough!" Thorin's voice reverberated around the annexe instantly putting a stop to the conversation. He fixed his steely gaze on the hobbit.

"Please, just get in the barrels," said Bilbo with an exasperated sigh. "Trust me." Bilbo was faced with 13 incredulous looking dwarves.

"So, let me get this right?" asked Thorin in a booming voice that seemed to echo off the walls of the cellar. Gloin sent a nervous glance in the direction of the two elves passed out drunk at one of the tables. He was worried that Thorin's shouts would wake the two elves and get them caught. "You want us to get in these barrels and float down the river? That is your great escape plan Master Burglar?"

Bilbo shifted his weight from foot to foot suddenly looking unsure of himself. "Well… When you put it like that it does sound kinda ridiculous. But yeah, that about sums it up."

Thorin levelled the hobbit with a long stare, "You heard the hobbit," he said turning his attention to the rest of the company "get in the barrels." the group instantly dissolved into chaos as the dwarves jostled each other in an attempt to get the best barrels.

Gloin continued to remain on the edge letting the other dwarves sort themselves out. Every so often he would send a glance to the elves to ensure that they were still asleep. As the noise level began to rise Gloin backed off even further to the point that he was stood in the archway.

And that is when he heard it. A high pitched squeal coming from the staircase, followed by voices that were similarly high pitched, sending a jolt of panic through Gloin. "Thorin," he hissed coming up beside the companies leader who was similarly standing clear of the rest of the group, "I heard voices, elves are coming."

Without a moment's hesitation, the other dwarve placed his thumb and forefinger at the corners of his mouth and emitted a high pitch whistle. Gaining the attention of the other members of the company and putting a silence to their squabbling. "Get in formation. Get ready to defend yourselves," ordered Thorin. Silently the Dwarves moved so that they were in a semicircle formation with Thorin in the centre.

In the newfound silence, they could hear the voices drifting down the stairs, as they drew nearer they were able to make out what was being said. "Are you sure your Ada won't mind?" asked the first - female and young by the sound of it.

"Only if we get caught." responded a second - male but also young.

"But what if we do get caught?" questioned a third - another male who also sounded young, just not quite as young as the first two. The voices seemed to halt on their descent.

"We won't," replied the second sounding confident "Most of the staff are in the great hall and Galion will have _sampled_ the wine, so he'll be passed out drunk."

"But, what if he wakes up?" came the timid question from the first.

"Trust me," said the second "Ada has broken out the good stuff for tonight and it's powerful, not even a hoard of spiders laying their eggs in him would wake him." The voices resumed their decent.

"If we get caught, I'm blaming it all on you." added the third "'Cause they'll go easy on you _Coon_."

"Don't call me that." muttered the second.

"Why?" teased the third "It's what you are," he said just as the three rounded the corner grinding to a halt and staring at the dwarves in front of them.

In the middle of the three was Legolas. The green and brown tunic and leggings from earlier had been replaced with a more formal and intricately patterned silver set and a silver circlet had been placed on his brow. On his right stood a girl of about the same height wearing similar clothes to what Legolas had earlier, her long red hair pulled back from her face by some braids. She grasped Legolas' hand and curled into his side. On Legolas' other side was a boy who was about twice the height of the other two, like Legolas he had long pale blond hair but his clothes were pale blue with silver accents; without pausing he pulled a small elven dagger from his waistband causing several members of the fellowship to tense in anticipation of an attack.

"Valar!" exclaimed Legolas moving himself between the elf and the dwarves "Put the dagger away Haldir, they mean us no harm."

The elder elf - Haldir spluttered, "Are you mad? Of course, they mean us harm, they're _dwarves_. Just look at them, they look ready to fight." In response, Thorin made a hand gesture to tell the rest of the company to stand down.

"Oh Haldir," said Legolas with a heavy sigh "Of course they are ready to fight. They didn't know that it was us coming down the stairs. They didn't know that we weren't a threat."

Reluctantly Haldir sheathed his dagger.

"What are we going to do?" asked the girl pulling away from Legolas to peer curiously at the company.

"We're going to get an adult," said Haldir sticking his nose up in the air.

"No! We can't do that; they'll take them back to the cells in the dungeons." cried Legolas

"Uh yeah, that is the general idea." Gloin could practically hear the _duh_ in Haldir's voice. "They're trying to escape."

"Well can you blame them? Wouldn't _you_ try and escape if you had been locked up for no reason?" the company stared wide-eyed at the small elf who was defending them to the elder elf.

Haldir spluttered indignantly "What do you mean, locked up for no reason? There had to be a reason."

Legolas heaved as a comically small sigh "Well, all they were doing was using the forest path to get through to the other side so they could get to Erabore to slay the dragon." Gloin personally thought that Legolas was doing a pretty good impression of Balin's drawling tone when he decided it was lecture time, right down the stance with his arms crossed over his chest "When they were caught Ada locked them up because he hates dwarves, it's no secret." around him Gloin could hear several derisive snorts. "So now they need to escape if they want to slay the dragon and reclaim their home." finished Legolas sounding excited before sighing wistfully and adding "It's like something out of those adventure books that Lord Elrond has."

"Dragons? Really?" questioned the girl stepping forward seeming to have found her confidence, "Like a real-life dragon? Like in the books?"

"Aye," respond Thorin speaking up for the first time, receiving a glare that could kill from Haldir, "Just like in the books."

"Oh, how wonderful," she squealed in delight, whirling around to face Haldir she placed her hands on her hips "We must help them, so they can kill the dragon!"

Haldir paled and groaned, "Valar, not you too, Tauriel!"

"But it's a Dragon, Haldir," she whined all but stomping her foot.

Haldir drew in a long-suffering sigh "I s'pose I'm not gonna win this one am I?" at identical head shakes from Legolas and Tauriel he sighed again before continuing "I guess we better help the _dwarves_ escape then." he muttered before turning his attention to Thorin, "How were you planning on doing this, you do realise you are in the wine cellar, is that intentional or did you just get lost?"

Thorin merely shrugged turning his attention to the Hobbit, "the Master Hobbit was the one to come up with the plan of escape."

Bilbo stepped forward from the crowd "Well, uh… I thought that they could all get in the barrels," he gestured to the stack of barrels behind him, "the elves... you, appear to be getting your supplies from Lake Town in the barrels and you return the barrels by letting them wash down the river." He paused for confirmation glancing towards the elves, Legolas and Tauriel both nodded encouragingly whilst Haldir merely shrugged, "so," continued Bilbo, "The plan was that we escaped by getting into the barrels and waiting for the elves to send them down to Lake-town." The hobbit shifted his weight from foot to foot as he regarded the dwarves in an attempt to gauge their reactions to his suggestion.

"Hold on a sec," Balin said, "won't the elves notice that the barrels aren't empty?"

Legolas shrugged, "Probably not. It'll be late, they'll be tired and most likely very drunk. They won't notice a thing. Besides seen as we're here we can pull the lever for you"

"Won't they notice the barrels missing?"

"They'll be too drunk," explained Tauriel this time, "either they'll think they've already done it and forgotten or think that someone else has done it for them. They might worry in the morning but by then it will be too late."

"Well, you heard the hobbit and the elflings, get in the barrels," commanded Thorin pushing himself off from the wall that he had ended up leaning against. In an unorganised clamour, the dwarves proceeded to push and shove each other in order to get to the barrels to make their grand escape from the eleven kings fortress.

With a disconcerting expression of glee emblazoned on his face, Legolas attempted to surge forward with the Dwarves. Or at least until Haldir's arm shot out grabbing the smaller elf around the stomach and uttering with an exasperated sigh, "No Legolas."

"But Dragons" he all but whined, his bottom lip jutting out in a pout. "And I want to ride down the river in the barrels. It sounds like such fun." he sighed wistfully.

If it was at all possible Haldir's frown seemed to deepen. "It certainly does not, it sounds very dangerous." his tone held a note of superiority in it, "besides it's one thing to sneak down to the wine cellar but if you went riding down the river in the barrels in the middle of one of your Ada's parties I have the feeling that he would murder us all." Legolas still looked unconvinced so Haldir added "Besides if you go with the dwarves you'll be jeopardising their escape. You can ride the barrels another time."

Legolas stopped struggling against Haldir, going limp in his grip "Fine." By this time all the dwarves had gotten themselves situated in their barrels, Bilbo sharing Thorin's barrel as they were one short.

"Alright," commanded Haldir with a satisfied smirk on his face, "help me seal the lids onto the barrels."

With one last look at Legolas as he sealed Gloin into his barrel, Gloin could not help but wonder what would become of the young elfling in the years to come. How he would be affected by the oncoming darkness that was brewing at the edges of Middle Earth. He yearned to know more about the strange little elf who after such a short amount of time had captured his heart.

One thing Gloin knew for sure is that he wouldn't be forgetting Legolas for a long time to come.

OoOoO

Thank you for reading and pretty please with a cherry on top and a side of fries can leave a quick review even if it is just to yell at me for being late. So this is part 2 of 3, this time I'm not going to make any promises to when the next update is going to be. I have taken a leaf out of the wonderful Shanastorytellers book and decided to start a rota for updating / posting fics to hopefully keep me on track.


	3. Part 3 - At Long Last

A/N: Hiya! Long time no see and I know that that is totally my own fault. So the rota idea kinda a failed, which knowing me is not really surprising. Here is the final part of the story and I know that it is a lot shorter than the other chapters but it was never my intention for the others to be so long. This last chapter was a bitch to write because no matter what I tried and no matter how many times I went away and then came back nothing I did seemed to flow. The last couple of parts I am particularly unhappy with but when I was trying to iron them out they were somehow getting worse than they all ready were so I reverted back to the version that I am posting. I'm not going to lie there is a rather large part of me that didn't want to post this chapter because I'm just not happy with it but I know that there are some people out there that are reading this fic so I figured that I would post it so they can tick it off as complete. You never know somewhere down the line after I have had some distance I may come back to this fic and try to give it a re-write. I hope that you are all doing well and staying safe with current events in the world.

OoOoO

Gloin heaved a relieved sigh as he sunk down into the large overstuffed armchair near one of the fires, letting it warm his weary bones. He was no longer in the prime of his life, he was by all intents and purposes an old Dwarve. Oh, how the 60 years since Thorin and company had travelled to reclaim the mountain felt like a lifetime ago. Like a distant memory that you weren't entirely sure if it was real or some distant pipe dream. Sipping slowly at the mulled wine - the stuff was lethal, you could barely taste the alcohol on your tongue - he let the sweet spiced wine warm him from within. The days may be warm but the nights were cold.

As par for the course, members of Lord Elrond's household along with their guests - growing in numbers by the day - gathered in the hall of fire once the evening meal had come to its conclusion. Gimili and the other members of their party tended to congregate around Gloin, preferring not to socialise with the other races present. The small group of hobbits took part in overly zealous games of cards, managing to drag some of the men into their games before taking them for all they were worth. The elves and the men themselves were dispersed around the room into smaller groups. With Elrond floating between the different groups.

His attention was drawn the excited chatter that broke out just to his left, coming from a small group primarily consisting of Elrond's children, his advisor, and the balrog slayer. "The scouts came not more than half an hour ago, they said that the party from Mirkwood should arrive by noon tomorrow." announced one Dunedain adopted son of Lord Elrond

"And the Prince?" inquired Glorfindel, "Was the Prince with the party?"

The Dunedain shrugged, "Couldn't tell, the party was too far out."

He could feel the corners of his mouth quirking up, the fond memory of his time in Mirkwood - country to what the other members of the company would say - coming to the surface. Over the years he had often wondered what had become of Legolas the young elfling that he had met in the cells. Had grown up to become a soldier? Joining the fight against the darkness that steadily encroached across Middle Earth. Or had he become a healer or an academic? Personally, he chose to imagine the very best future for the elfling, one that did not include the war of darkness that was undeniably brewing on the horizon, drawing closer and closer as each day passed. But alas that could never be the case.

OoOoO

The next day found Gloin relaxing on a bench situated on the balcony overlooking the main courtyard. A weighty tome on loan from Elrond's private collection resting in his lap. The Lord of Rivendell certainly had a fascinating collection of books that he was all too happy to share with his guests. A refreshing glass of sweetened lemonade rested on the table by his elbow, a faint breeze ghosting across his skin.

He had been enjoying several hours of reading since breakfast however his back was starting to protest the hard hardwood. Slipping his finger into the book to mark his place he allowed himself to marvel at how with age one's body seemed to give out on one's self.

"Open the gates!" shouted one of the guards stationed at the gate watchtower, breaking Gloin out of his thoughts "The Mirkwood party has arrived."

Gloin closed the book, leaving it beside himself on the bench and with creaking bones levered himself up so that he could lean on the railing to look into the courtyard below. The wooden gates that were elaborately carved with vines creaked open. Lord Elrond and his children were accompanied by the Balrog slayer, all waiting off to the side.

The clattering of hooves signalled the arrival of the Mirkwood party, first through the gate was an elf whos blonde hair gleamed in the sunlight; followed a beat later by half a dozen more elves with comparatively dull brown locks. Elrond and the other members of his household rushed towards the blonde at the front of the party, who slid off his horse, legs buckling almost instantly. He was caught around the biceps by the Balrog slayer and the human son, head lolling to the side. The small group moved off at a slow shuffle towards the house. As the other riders dismounted they similarly stumbled only to be caught by the off duty elves that had also gathered in the courtyard, guiding their Mirkwood companions back to the house.

OoOoO

It was hard not to notice the absence of the Mirkwood elves at dinner that night. The news that they had arrived earlier had spread like wildfire around the last homely house despite there being seemingly no trace of them anywhere now that everyone had sat down for the evening meal.

"Lord Elrond," piped up one of the Hobbits, Gloin couldn't be sure which, "Where are the elves from Mirkwood?"

"It's just," butted in one of the other hobbits, "everyone was saying that they had arrived earlier and we are looking forward to meeting them after all the stories that we have heard."

Elrond's expression became almost imperceptibly pinched, a forced smile stitched onto his face "The Mirkwood party is resting little ones, they have had a long and perilous journey. Their home near constantly shrouded in darkness, they were exhausted before they started their travels, it has been years since they have been able to rest. They merely need time to recover."

Satisfied but also disappointed the Hobbits returned to their food and conversations.

OoOoO

Almost a week passed before there was an appearance of the Mirkwood Party. The first time he encountered an elf from Mirkwood was at breakfast, it was early in the morning before most members of the household had surfaced for the day. Gloin had found himself rising earlier as he got older. Usually, there were only a half dozen people including Elrond and the Balrog Slayer. This morning however there was more than double the number of bodies in the room compared to a regular morning.

Apparently, the first public appearance of the Mirkwood party had drawn many members from the household earlier than normal. Many were clustered into small groups around the individuals from Mirkwood. Elrond, his children, and the Balrog Slayer were clustered around the Blonde who had led the Party into Rivendell.

After noticing him Elrond beckoned him over to the group by the breakfast buffet table. "Come Gloin," called the elf once he was within earshot, "Let me introduce you to the Prince of Mirkwood." The blonde elf smiled at him warmly, extending his hand to shake Gloin's hand. There was something familiar about him that Gloin couldn't quite pin down.

All further introductions and interactions were cut off when an elf - called Erestor he thinks - taps the Prince on the shoulder and tells him something in the Eleven Tongue. The Prince gave the group a rueful smile, "I'm afraid that I have duties that I must take my leave. the King has written and wants an immediate update on our arrival."

OoOoO

Gloin was on his way down to Elrond's library to return the small pile of books that had been occupying his attention over the past couple of days. Elron really did have the most fascinating collection, such as the books that had currently taken his fancy relating to the evolution of combat. He always had, had a head more geared towards battle tactics than crafts.

His heart lurched in his chest as a blur of green and blonde dropped from the balcony above. Remarkably but not surprisingly the Prince landed on his feet. Turning he grinned sheepishly at Gloin, "My apologies Master Dwarve," he said shuffling backward so that he was pressed against the wall, "I was merely attempting to lose my pursuer."

"Your pursuer?"

The prince nodded, catching Arwen around the waist as she came running out of the passageway to their left. She whirled round to glare at him, "Get off, Elladan is chasing me."

"Elrohir nearly caught me up there." he pointed up to the balcony a wince on his face.

"I guess there's only one thing for it then," she responded with a solemn look.

"Run for it." The Prince had an equally solemn look for a split second before the pair took off at a dead sprint. Barely a second later Elladan barreled out from the same passage Arwen had come from flashing Gloin a smile as his breath came out in ragged pants. So a childish game of 'it' was all that it was.

OoOoO

"Legolas? What of the creature?" Elrond addressed the Mirkwood Prince.

Gloin jerked his head up to look at the prince, that was it, the familiarity that he couldn't quite place, no matter how hard that he tried. Looking into Legolas' face, he tried to pick out the features of the young elfling that he had met all those years ago. It was hard, beyond the pale complexion, blonde hair and the blue eyes there was barely a trace of the wide-eyed carefree innocence.

It was clear in the hard lines in his face that Legolas had had to endure the darkness and all the pain and loss that came with it. It was likely that like so many children in these times he had lost his childhood, forced to grow up faster, take up the fight. It pained Glin that the same had happened to his own son Gimli, but couldn't imagine what it must have been like for the young elf had been living on the edge of darkness. His heart clenched at the toll the darkness must have taken one someone so long, from living so close to all-consuming darkness.

To Gloin it felt like some kind of fate that he and Legolas had been brought back together at such a pivotal time in the history of Middle Earth.


End file.
